- Introduction: First Trip to Dubai with My Son!
- Review: Emirates Airlines 777-200LR (Economy Class) – Dallas to Dubai
- Review: Sheraton Hotel – Mall of Emirates
- Review: Marriott Hotel – Al Jaddaf
- Review: Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo
- Review: Burj Khalifa 124
- Review: Dubai Speedboat Tour
- Review: Marhaba Lounge – Dubai International Airport
- Review: Emirates Airlines 777-200LR (Business Class) – Dubai to Dallas
Our final planned excursion in Dubai was a visit to The Green Planet. It was touted as a unique indoor rainforest that housed over 3,000 plants and animals. On the morning of the event, Nicholas decided he was done with planned tours. This meant our last excursion was the day prior: Dubai Speedboat Tour – Marina, Atlantis, Palms, and Burj Al Arab.
I booked the 90 minute tour through GetYourGuide for a little over $60 USD. I found this to be a great deal.
The day started with another ride a white Lexus Uber. I really do not understand how or why white Lexuses were the cars of choice for Uber in Dubai. I can only speculate that a company cornered the market and wanted to provide the same Uber experience to each customer. 🤷🏾♂️
Here are the directions from GetYourGuide:
If coming by taxi, ask for drop-off at Marina Mansion. Once you get down in front of Marina Mansion, please cross the road through pedestrian crossing and walk towards a ramp going down (next to the bridge). Walk down the ramp and go left to reach the meeting point.
If coming by car, park at Marina Mall (3-hours free).
Um what??? I put in the name of the mansion mentioned above in the Uber app but the address was wrong. I then asked the driver if he heard of Xclusive Tours…he stated he had not heard of the company EVER. finally, I asked him to get me as close to the marina as possible. I figured Nicholas and I had a better chance on foot to make it to the location before check in closed.
I used Apple Maps to locate Xclusive Tours before we exited the Uber. We then began our journey through the marina. It was a beautiful, mild day out so getting some steps in did not cost a sweaty penny. 😬 anyway, wouldn’t you know that after a 10 minute walk, we arrived at our destination.
There was a stand, across from the secure area, that we approached and provided our information. One of guys told us that we were in the right place but we would need to go inside to complete the check in.
As we walked into the lounge, I could not help but notice its size but also how efficiently everything was laid out. The check in counter was to the left. There were two agents working, one asked for the booking number while the other chatted us up about our business in Dubai.
Once our booking was verified, I was provided a waiver to complete for myself and Nicholas and given two boarding passes for the boat ride. We quickly found a seat across from the counter to complete the form. There was an ample amount of available space when we arrived but filled up as we got closer to departure.
Once the paperwork was situated, we grabbed some drinks and let my phone charge. There was a small snack counter/charging station to the right of the check in counter. The drinks were reasonably priced but the charger cords were a bit slow. Beggars can’t be choosers, right?
Before too long, it was time for us to board our vessel. The agents made an announcement, we queued by the stand outside, and were led to the boat. We were met by the two people who would be taking us on the tour. As we passed through the security door, Nicholas decided he had to use the facilities. With no restroom in sight, we used the head on one of the dinner cruise boats.
Once we made it back outside, Nicholas and I got fitted for our life jackets before boarding the 12 person speed boat.
There were some introductions, pre-departure safety briefing, and an overview of the tour. The biggest takeaways for me were: 1) remove your hat, 2) complimentary water is available in the back, 3) people in the front will get the wettest, 4) stow anything you do not want to get wet in your seat and 5) have fun.
Here is the itinerary, which was not followed:
We started the journey to the open water right on time. This would be key because the speedboat could not “speed” in the marina/populated area so we used over have of the excursion on a cruise in a speedboat.
Once we got out to open water, business picked up. The driver pushed it up, water was splashing everywhere, my hat nearly flew off (I took it off here), and we zoomed by the Dubai Eye…Ain Dubai.
The driver made some sharp turns enroute to Atlantis, as we would be between all stops, while also providing a quick overview of each. The views were incredible.
We zigged and zagged our way towards the Burj Al Arab. We stopped and one of the guides spoke about the importance of the Burj Al Arab but I could only think about the commercial where Andre Agassi played Roger Federer on the property’s helipad. Iconic.
The guides did a great job of allowing guests to take pics, videos, etc at all of the stops. Even though we were on a time crunch, they made it memorable.
At this point, it was time for us to return to the marina. We took the path along Jumeirah Beach and The Palms. We had to slow down again in this area.
We were able to get back up to speed near the Dubai Eye. After doing some more maneuvering, we were right back to cruising on a speedboat. The views more than made up for the lack of speed.
Final Word
Nicholas and I had a great time on the Dubai speedboat excursion by Xclusive Tours. The hospitality, much like everywhere else we visited in the city, was over the top. The only part I did not like was spending over half of time idling to open water. That is minor though, I would not hesitate to do this again.
